Haaland goal machine again! BVB as good as in the second round

Hits and hits and hits: thanks to striker Erling Haaland, Borussia Dortmund have opened their doors to the knockout stages of the Champions League. The Norwegian scored two goals in the win against Bruges. The best goal of the evening was scored by another BVB star.

Thanks to goal machine Erling Haaland and art shooter Jadon Sancho, Borussia Dortmund opened their doors to the Champions League round of 16 very widely. Coach Lucien Favre’s side beat Belgian champions Club Bruges 3-0 (2-0) and need just one point in their upcoming home game against Lazio to reach the knockout stages early.

Haaland (18th, 60th) with his 15 and 16 Champions League goals in the twelfth game and Sancho (45th) with a remarkable free-kick in Dortmund’s fifth consecutive home win at the highest European level. The second place in the Bundesliga in the standings is therefore on track in all competitions.

Constant rotation in BVB

Favre implemented the announced rotation consistently and changed his eleven positions to five positions in contrast to the convincing performance at Hertha BSC (5: 2). Among other things, Sancho and Thorgan Hazard entered the starting lineup for captain Marco Reus and Julian Brandt. Storm talent Youssoufa Moukoko sat on the bench, a new record debut did not materialize.

The changes did not change the flow of the match in Dortmund. Passionate, determined, creative: the hosts dominated from the start. Haaland lost the first opportunity to take the lead (2nd). The Norwegian did better 16 minutes later, after a fine pass from Sancho passed in front of goalkeeper Simon Mignolet. It was BVB’s 200th goal in the premier class.

Sancho’s dream goal

Dortmund then had a lot of control, even if the guests didn’t hide and tried to find playful solutions. Bruges was rarely dangerous. A long-range shot by Ruud Vormer (23rd) missed the target.

The German runner-up pushed for the second goal. Manuel Akanji (32nd), Giovanni Reyna (41st) and Thomas Delaney (43rd) initially offered good opportunities. Seconds before half-time whistled, Sancho hit a free kick from around 20 meters into the corner.

The strong performance of Hummel

After the change, BVB sought the decision. The greatly improved Sancho hit the ball in a good position but did not hit the ball correctly (48th), Haaland moved clearly (50th). The Favre team continued to combine fluently, but played too complicated in some situations. In defense, Favre’s four defenders this time with defense chief Mats Hummels had almost everything under control. As with the 3-0 first leg defeat, Bruges were overall too harmless despite some good approaches. However, BVB got lucky when Vormer slipped just over a sharp flank (58th).

Given the reassuring double advantage and the mad rush of appointments until Christmas, the hosts have managed calmly in some phases, but Haaland still does not have enough. The 20-year-old took advantage of a mistake in the Bruges defense for the third goal of the evening. Vormer had thrown the ball at him involuntarily.

Favre then made the first changes to save precious energy for subsequent activities: even Haaland was able to relax.